Sir Harry Braustyn Hylton Hylton-Foster (10 April 1905 – 2 September 1965), was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) from 1950 until his death in 1965. He was also the

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

for the final six years of his life.

Early life

Hylton-Foster was born in Surrey, his father was a barrister, and he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

before reading

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

at Magdalen College, Oxford, in which he graduated with a

first-class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

. He was called to the bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1928, at which time he was also working as a legal secretary for

Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay Robert Bannatyne Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay, (11 July 1842 – 9 March 1929), known as Sir Robert Finlay from 1895 to 1916, initially formally qualified as a doctor, was a British barrister and politician, and Lord High Chancellor of Gre ...

Military service

During

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Hylton-Foster served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

volunteer reserve. He also served as a deputy judge advocate, a military judge, in North Africa.

Political career

After the end of the war, he stood as the Conservative candidate for the Shipley seat in the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

, but was unsuccessful. However, in the 1950 election he succeeded in taking the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

seat, a seat he held for the next two elections before standing for the safer seat for the Cities of London and Westminster in the 1959 election. He was made King's Counsel in 1947. In 1954, Hylton-Foster was named the

Solicitor General for England and Wales His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to ad ...

, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

. The fact that he was serving as solicitor general when he was named speaker of the House of Commons in 1959 was a source of some controversy, which was compounded by the fact that the opposition Labour Party felt they had been insufficiently consulted about the nomination. However, once the controversy died down, Hylton-Foster proved to be a popular and respected speaker.

Personal life, death and aftermath

Hylton-Foster was married to the former Audrey Brown. On 2 September 1965, Hylton-Foster collapsed while walking along

Duke Street, St James's Duke Street, St James's is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Piccadilly in the north to King Street in the south, and is crossed by Jermyn Street. Ryder Street joins it on the western side. On ...

. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead, aged 60, upon arrival at nearby St George's Hospital. Audrey Hylton-Foster was given a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...

as Baroness Hylton-Foster in his honour the same year, and was granted a life annuity by the Honourable Lady Hylton-Foster's Annuity Act 1965. Hylton-Foster and his wife are buried together in the churchyard of St Barnabas Church,

Ranmore Common Ranmore Common, also known as Ranmore Commons, is an area of wooded former common land on the North Downs, immediately northwest of Dorking in the English county of Surrey. Its civil parish is Wotton, a geographically large village with a sma ...

, Surrey.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hylton-Foster, Harry 1905 births 1965 deaths 20th-century British lawyers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 People from Surrey Politics of the City of London Politics of the City of Westminster Royal Air Force officers Solicitors General for England and Wales Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Spouses of life peers UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 People educated at Eton College English barristers